Week 3: Amber Thomas, Northern Lehigh (softball)

Northern Lehigh senior softball player Amber Thomas is the Coordinated Health Athlete of the Week.

Northern Lehigh senior softball player Amber Thomas is the Coordinated Health Athlete of the Week. (Joe Seremula, THE MORNING CALL)

After going 7-13, 8-12 and 7-13 over the past three seasons, the Northern Lehigh softball program is looking to make a comeback this spring.

Bulldogs senior pitcher Amber Thomas knows all about comebacks.

When she was 13, Thomas suffered a cerebral ischemic stroke. After a week at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Thomas suffered through three months of migraine headaches.

Then as a high school sophomore, Thomas' basketball season was cut short when severe leg pain revealed a cyst in her tibia. That situation required surgery and a 10-week stint on crutches.

But now as a senior, Thomas is healthy as her performance on Wednesday indicates. She was 3-for-3 with a triple and three RBIs at the plate and also struck out 10 and limited Pen Argyl to just one hit in the pitcher's circle as Northern Lehigh pulled off a eyebrow-raising 8-1 Colonial League win.

"I'm excited for my senior year and I'm excited for our team," Thomas said. "I've had a couple of hurdles that were kind of intense, but I am fully recovered now and back to where I was before and I am just thrilled to be able to play and make the most of my senior season."

In addition to being a two-sport athlete, Thomas is ranked fifth in her class academically. She will attend Drexel University with plans to major in bio-medical engineering.

"Amber is doing a great job," Bulldogs coach Bob Hicks said. "She has matured and become a leader everywhere for us. She has a positive attitude. I told her that this is her year; her time to shine. And she is definitely doing that."

Athlete of the week appears Fridays and is selected by The Morning Call Sports staff. To nominate, visit themorningcall.com/Athlete.

Coordinated Health will award a $1,000 scholarship to each weekly winner.